Quick Basil Pasta

The Little Girl wanted to have some pasta the other day, so I made her my Quick Basil Pasta.  All you need is to cook any type of pasta you have, I had some fettucine. Then saute 1/2 an onion in olive oil, then season it with some salt and pepper.  Then add basil, either dried or fresh, then toss in the cooked pasta make sure you  toss the pasta well.  Then transfer to a platter top with your choice of cheese.  The whole cooking process takes just 15 minutes.  This is my go to pasta whenever I don't have much time nor energy to cook.

Tocino Chao Fan

The SM Supermarket near our place has been conducting cooking demos.  I decided to make one of the dishes I learned.  It was sponsored by CDO so I used their Young Pork tocino, but I guess any brand of sweet tocino would.  The rice dish was a hit with the Little Girl, I guess the combination of the sweet tocino with the salty fried rice was a winner for her. I guess the flavor combination of this dish is more to the liking of kids.  I personally found it to be just an okay dish.

Here is the recipe:

1/4 cup oil

8 cloves garlic, minced

2 stalks leeks, chopped

1 pack frozen mixed vegetables 

1 pack pork tocino

4 cups cooked rice

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

2 eggs, beaten

1/2 cup oyster sauce

1. Cook tocino in a pan with a little water.  When the tocino changes color and is cooked, remove from pan and then chop into small pieces.

2. Heat the oil in a large pan or wok. Saute garlic, then add leeks. Stir for a a few seconds. Stir in the salt and pepper.

3. Add mixed vegetables (since we were running low on supplies I only added shredded cabbage, but preferably you can use carrots, bell pepper and green peas)  followed by the tocino.

4. Add in the rice and mix well.

5. Pour in the oyster sauce and mix until evenly seasoned.

6. Pour in the beaten eggs and quickly mix to spread. Heat through for five more minutes.

7.Then transfer to a platter, and serve hot.

Popcorn

I made the Little Ones' favorite TV time snack popcorn.  We make it the old-fashion way with fresh corn kernels, some oil in a pot with a glass lid.  This was also how my Lola use to make us popcorn. The Little Ones and I love hearing  and seeing  the kernels pop.  When the popcorn is done, we just season it with some salt, add another spice if we feel like it or sometimes we add a little butter.  Then we sit down and enjoy the popcorn and the show. 

Quick Chicken Stir-Fry

The Little Girl wanted to have chicken for lunch so I made a super quick and easy chicken stir-fry.  She loved it very much and asked would there be enough left for dinner =)

Here's the recipe:
1 chicken breast, cut into cubes
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 small red bell pepper, cut into squares
1/2 tsp hoisin sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce
cooking oil

1. Heat a wok with some oil.  Then add garlic, when the garlic starts to turn brown, add the bell peppers. Stir-fry for about a minute.

2. Add the chicken, stir-fry until the chicken changes color. Then add the hoisin, soy sauce, and oyster sauce. Stir-fry for another 2 minutes.  Then transfer to a serving plate.

Fried Lumpiang Gulay

Was craving for something crunchy searched the fridge for ingredients. Found carrots, and cabbage which I chopped up and shredded.  Then mixed in some sotanghon noodles with the vegetables, seasoned the mixture with some salt and pepper.  Wrapped them up in lumpia wrappers and then pan fried them.  Super quick to make all veggie spring rolls that definitely satisfied my cravings =)

Mochiko

There is a Mochiko craze sweeping over the metro. It seems a lot of people have become fans of their chewy sweet treats.  They offer mochi balls filled with different ice cream flavors.  We got our first taste of  Mochiko at the Yummy Eats event last May.  I loved the azuki filled mochi, and the black sesame one was also very good.   

The other day the Littles Ones and I together with my Sister-in-law were at Alabang Town Center to catch a movie.  Since we had time to kill we decided to get us some mochi.  I let the Little Ones pick the flavors, being kids they went for the classics - chocolate and strawberry.  The mochi balls are given to you frozen so you need to wait for it to thaw before you take that first bite.  

While waiting the  Little Boy kept on asking when he could start eating his chocolate mochi. When the thawing period was up he took a huge first bite, and had a big smile on his face.

The Little Girl had fum with her strawberry mochi, she would rub some on her lips like it was lipstick.

Looking forward to having more mochi and creating sweet memories with the Little Ones.

Tuna Pad Thai Pasta

For the last couple of weeks I have not been able to cook.  But yesterday I was back in the kitchen.  I decided to make this Thai-Italian fusion recipe I read in the August 2011 issue of  Yummy magazine. Pad Thai is a favorite Thai dish of mine, while the Little Girl loves pasta dishes so this recipe is a winner in both our books.  But I had to leave out the beancurd, sprouts and peanuts from my version because the Little Boy has G6PD deficiency, he cannot have any kind of bean nor any type of nut.  I am sure if I included these ingredients the dish would have tasted even better and had more texture to it, but even without these the dish turned out really yummy.   The Little Girl said it is her newest favorite pasta dish. 

Here's the recipe:
For the phad thai sauce
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup fish sauce (patis)
1/4 cup water
3/4 cup vinegar
3 tbsps sweet chili
2 tbps lemon juice

300 grams fettuccine noodles
2 tbsps corn oil
4 cloves of garlic, chopped
1/2 onion, chopped
2 (180 gram) cans of hot and spicy tuna flakes in oil
1 square beancurd, deep-fried then cut into strips
6 eggs beaten
3 cups bean sprouts
1 tbsp chili powder (optional)

For topping
chili powder or flakes
ground peanuts
Parmesan cheese
calamansi slices

1. Make the pad thai sauce: In a pot, boil together the ingredients until syrupy; set aside.

2. Cook fettuccine noodles according to package directions until al dente.

3. Meanwhile, in a nonstick wok, heat oil and saute garlic until fragrant.  Add onions and cook until translucent.  Add tuna together with pad thai sauce.  Add fried beancurd, reserving some for topping.

4. Pour in beaten eggs and let sit on the mixture for a few seconds before mixing. You should have a creamy mixture, not a sauce with scrambled eggs mixed in.  Add the bean sprouts last.  You can add some chili powder or flakes to make it spicy; otherwise, serve it on the side.

5. Toss pasta into the sauce mixture and let the noodles absorb some of the sauce.

6. Transfer to a platter and arrange remaining beancurd strips on top.  Sprinkle with chili powder, ground peanuts, and Parmesan cheese.  Serve with calamansi slices on the side.